An increasingly strong demand for disparate scrap metal such as black sheet clips, loose steel, industrial skeleton sheets, trim stock, white goods galvanized sheet and clips, stainless steel sheets, aluminum sheet, and scrap metal from junked automobiles, has created a demand for mobile scrap metal crushers having efficiencies competitive with large centralized scrap metal crushing facilities.
A mobile crusher will usually have one of two crushing chamber configurations. The first configuration requires the crushing chamber be loaded through its top, typically necessitating the use of a crane. Whether the crane is mounted on the crusher or separate, a crane loading operation has the disadvantage that a crane must either be relocated once the scrap proximate to the crane has been exhausted or be fed by a more mobile piece of equipment like a front-end loader. Relocating the crane usually necessitates the relocation of the crusher, which takes valuable time.
The second configuration requires the crushing chamber be loaded through one of its sides, thereby facilitating the use of highly mobile loading equipment like front-end loaders, skidders, or forklifts. Loading a crusher with mobile loading equipment like front end loaders is advantageous because the crusher does not require relocation and a crane is not required.
To effectively compete with the large centralized crushing facilities, mobile crushers need to be capable of accepting one or more complete and entire junk automobiles per loading cycle. This requirement combined with the side loading configuration results in mobile crushers having hydraulic cylinders that protrude significantly above the crusher, preventing the crusher's transport along roads without lowering the hydraulic cylinders. In the past, the lowering and raising of hydraulic cylinders to allow transport and operation has been difficult and time consuming. Thus, there was a demand for a mobile sideload crusher that could quickly and conveniently convert from transportation mode to operation mode.
One crusher that attempted to meet this demand was the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,443, issued to Hall on Aug. 12, 1997. Hall discloses a mobile car crusher designed to reduce junk cars into slabs by simply crushing them vertically. A car crusher, like Hall, will reduce a full-size car to a slab having the following approximate dimensions: nine inches tall; eight feet wide and twenty feet long.
While the Hall crusher is adequate for reducing automobiles to slabs, it is less than adequate for the processing of loose scrap metal for two reasons. First, loading the Hall crusher with a sufficient charge of loose scrap metal will result in pieces of scrap spilling from the crushing chamber before the loading door of the Hall crusher can be completely closed. Second, simply crushing a charge of loose scrap metal results in a slab having poor structural integrity, such that the slab will have difficulty in staying together during handling and transport.
The scrap metal recycling industry is moving away from slabs in favor of bales. Approximate desired dimensions for a full size car that has been baled are: two feet tall; four feet wide and twelve feet long. Because the Hall crusher can only process metal scrap into slabs, the Hall crusher fails to address the recycling industry's preference for bales over slabs.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for a portable metal crusher capable of: (1) side loading by highly mobile loading equipment like front-end loaders, skidders, and forklifts; (2) convenient conversion between the transportation and operation modes; (3) processing loose scrap metal without excessive spilling of scrap from the crushing chamber before the loading door is fully closed; and (4) reducing both automobiles and charges of loose scrap metal to bales having structural integrity.
There is also a need in the art for a method of scrap metal processing that: (1) facilitates side loading by highly mobile loading equipment like front-end loaders, skidders, and forklifts; (2) is conveniently transportable; (3) deters loose pieces of scrap from spilling from the crushing chamber before the loading door is fully closed; and (4) is capable of reducing both automobiles and charges of loose scrap metal to bales having structural integrity.